Max Verstappen takes victory in Imola, with the two McLarens completing the podium.
Max Verstappen wins the Made in Italy and Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix! The Dutch driver secured this victory thanks to an extraordinary move at the start, extending his braking on the outside of Tamburello to overtake Oscar Piastri. The four-time World Champion was then also helped by the deployment of the Virtual Safety Car, which allowed him to make a “free” pit stop.
Lando Norris finishes in second place, reclaiming the position from his teammate with a very aggressive move around the outside of Tamburello just five laps from the end. Completing the podium is Oscar Piastri, perhaps the biggest disappointment of the day: after losing the lead at the start, neither strategy nor the Virtual Safety Car played in favor of the Australian driver.
Great comeback by both Ferraris, with Lewis Hamilton finishing fourth and Charles Leclerc in sixth. The Monegasque driver delivered a superb race, though it was compromised by the Virtual Safety Car. Between the two Maranello cars, an excellent Alexander Albon finished fifth, bringing home more crucial points for Williams. Rounding out the points-paying positions were Russell, Sainz, Hadjar, and Tsunoda.
In the overall standings, Oscar Piastri climbs to 146 points, with Lando Norris closing the gap by three points, now trailing by just 13. Max Verstappen also edges closer to the McLaren duo, moving up to 124 points. The championship battle remains wide open heading into next week’s Monaco Grand Prix.
F1 race in Imola: race report
63/63 – Over the radio, the team asks Leclerc to give the position back to Alexander Albon. The Monegasque driver lets him through at Tamburello: Albon moves up to fifth, while Leclerc drops to sixth. The CHECKERED FLAG is waved by Federica Brignone! Max Verstappen wins, with the two McLarens completing the podium. Great comeback for the Ferraris, with Hamilton fourth and Leclerc sixth.
61/63 – Hamilton overtakes Leclerc using fresher tires: the British driver is aiming for the podium, but Piastri is 2.7 seconds ahead. Meanwhile, the contact between Albon and Leclerc is noted.
60/63 – Contact between Alexander Albon and Charles Leclerc, with the Thai driver ending up in the gravel at Tamburello. Lewis Hamilton takes advantage and moves up to fifth position.
58/63 – A very aggressive attack by Lando Norris around the outside of Tamburello. The two teammates risk contact, but the English driver gets through. Meanwhile, Albon is right on Leclerc’s tail but can’t find an opening to make a move.
57/63 – Lewis Hamilton overtakes George Russell’s Mercedes around the outside of Tamburello. Now, the British driver could become a valuable ally for Leclerc.
55/63 – Verstappen extends his lead to 2.2 seconds over Oscar Piastri, while Lando Norris is within DRS range. Meanwhile, there will be no investigations regarding Norris’s pit lane exit—McLaren’s concerns have been cleared.
54/63 -Perfect move by Max Verstappen, who manages to build a safe margin over Oscar Piastri. Behind, Leclerc attempts an inside move on Lando Norris at Tamburello but has to back off. Meanwhile, a “Safety Car infringement” by Norris and Albon is noted, possibly related to that pit lane exit.
53/63 – The Safety Car will come in at the end of this lap! Ten fiery laps are expected on the Santerno circuit!
52/63 – We’re close to the restart: Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes has been removed, and Ollie Bearman has been instructed to let lapped cars pass.
48/63 – Alexander Albon also stops to fit a new set of Hard tires. Charles Leclerc, however, stays out in fourth position. Here’s the top ten after the pit stops: Verstappen, Piastri, Norris, Leclerc, Albon, Russell, Hamilton, Sainz, Hadjar, Hulkenberg.
Giro 47/63 –Pit stops for Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, both fitting new Hard tires. The English driver loses position to his teammate and comes out right on the limit with Albon. The situation needs review, but Lando should have managed to keep third place. Hamilton also pits, fitting new Hard tires, and drops to seventh position.
46/63 – Issues for Andrea Kimi Antonelli! The Bolognese driver parks his Mercedes exiting Tosa.. Safety Car on track!
42/63 – Sainz overtakes Nico Hulkenberg and takes the last points-paying position. Meanwhile, Alonso complains over the radio to his team: “I’m the unluckiest driver in the world.” A shame for the Asturian driver, who was comfortably in the points until the Virtual Safety Car.
41/63 – Leclerc takes full advantage of the slipstream from Hadjar’s Racing Bull and overtakes him on the inside at Tamburello. Meanwhile, Aston Martin’s situation worsens as they have not made the second pit stop: Alonso is twelfth, having been passed by both Hulkenberg and Sainz, while Stroll has dropped all the way to fourteenth.
40/63 – Oscar Piastri easily overtakes Alexander Albon’s Williams around the outside of Tamburello. The Australian driver virtually moves up onto the podium but is still 13 seconds behind his teammate.
39/63 – Charles Leclerc passes Andrea Kimi Antonelli at Tamburello, as the latter doesn’t seem very comfortable on the medium tires. Meanwhile, Piastri is within DRS range of Alexander Albon’s Williams.
37/63 – Hamilton overtakes Isack Hadjar’s Racing Bull and moves up to fifth position. An excellent comeback by the British driver. Meanwhile, Antonelli, passed by the seven-time world champion, seems to be struggling, lapping in the high 1:21s.
33/63 – Piastri gains about a second and a half per lap on Alexander Albon, while Leclerc quickly gets past Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin.
31/63 – The Virtual Safety Car period ends! Max Verstappen leads the race with a 20-second advantage over Lando Norris. In a surprising third place is Alexander Albon’s Williams, who will have to fend off the fierce charge from Oscar Piastri. In fifth place is a strong Hadjar, followed by Antonelli, Hamilton, Alonso, and Leclerc, who passed Stroll just after the VSC ended.
30/63 – Pit stop also for Oscar Piastri, who is in fourth position, also behind Alexander Albon.
29/63 – Esteban Ocon’s Haas stops exiting Tosa. Technical problem for him.. Virtual Safety CarA lucky break for Max Verstappen and Albon, while very unlucky for Lando Norris, who only had to wait one more lap. Verstappen pits and rejoins the track with a 23-second lead over Piastri.
Pit stops also for Antonelli and the two Ferraris, with Leclerc furious over the radio. Very unlucky for the Monegasque driver, who had put in a really good race up to that point.
28/63 – Piastri passes Isack Hadjar and moves up to fourth position. Now, he needs to take advantage of the clear track to push and try to overtake Max. Meanwhile, Lando Norris makes a pit stop and manages to rejoin just behind Hamilton.
27/63 – Now it’s Antonelli’s turn, as he’s passed by Oscar Piastri, again at Tamburello. Ahead of him is Hadjar, with a gap of over 7 seconds before Albon. Meanwhile, Leclerc overtakes Hulkenberg and now has clear air before catching his teammate Lewis Hamilton.
26/63 – Oscar Piastri passes Hamilton just before the braking zone at Tamburello: the Australian driver is now sixth.
24/63 – Leclerc passes Ollie Bearman at Tamburello and launches into pursuit of Hulkenberg’s Sauber.
23/63 – Piastri gets past Hulkenberg as well, and now has clear air before catching the duo of Antonelli and Hamilton, who are 5 seconds ahead.
21/63 – This time Leclerc passes Tsunoda just before the braking zone at Tamburello and immediately positions himself behind Ollie Bearman. Meanwhile, Piastri is 33.5 seconds behind the leader Max Verstappen.
20/63 – Piastri easily overtakes Colapinto’s Alpine and now has a 1.5-second gap to Hulkenberg’s Sauber. Meanwhile, Leclerc can’t get past Tsunoda at Turn 1 and is losing time.
19/63 – Piastri gets past Ollie Bearman as well and catches up behind Colapinto, while Leclerc remains stuck behind Tsunoda.
18/63 – Yuki Tsunoda tries to hold on but can’t withstand Oscar Piastri’s determined attack, as Piastri moves up to tenth position. However, this benefits Verstappen and Norris, with the Dutch driver now virtually having enough margin to make a pit stop.
17/63 – Piastri reaches Tsunoda’s traffic, the last driver in a DRS train stretching back to Franco Colapinto. It will be interesting to see if the Australian driver can navigate through without losing time.
16/63 – Max Verstappen and Lando Norris are lowering their lap times, possibly having passed the critical phase of their tires. Now, Lando is lapping two tenths faster than Leclerc.
14/63 – Both Verstappen and Norris continue, trying to extend their stints. Virtually, this puts Leclerc in third place, as Lando should be behind him once he makes his pit stop.
13/63 – Pit stop also for Oscar Piastri, who has slipped to nearly three seconds behind Verstappen. The Australian McLaren driver comes out about five seconds ahead of Leclerc. Now, Max Verstappen will have to respond to avoid the undercut.
12/63 – Fastest lap by Charles Leclerc: 1:20.505 — one second quicker than Verstappen and Piastri, and a full one and a half seconds faster than Lando Norris.
11/63 – The third attempt is the charm for Lando Norris, who makes a spectacular move to overtake George Russell’s Mercedes on the outside of Villeneuve. The British Mercedes driver, after complaining over the radio about tire issues, pits and rejoins the track behind Leclerc.
10/63 – Once again, Lando Norris gets a great exit out of Tamburello and this time tries an inside move on Russell at Villeneuve, but the Mercedes driver shuts the door. Leclerc pits, escaping the traffic from Stroll’s Aston Martin. The Monegasque driver takes on Hard tires and will have to complete a full 53 laps if he wants to do just one stop.
9/63 – Lando Norris gets a better exit out of Tamburello and tries to attack George Russell on the outside of Villeneuve but is forced to lift off. However, this battle pulls them away from the top two, with Russell nearly 5 seconds behind Piastri.
8/63 – Battle for eleventh place, with Andre Kimi Antonelli defending on the inside at Tamburello against Lewis Hamilton. Remember, they are the leading drivers on Hard tires in the standings.
6/63 – Norris is in DRS range behind Russell, just six tenths apart, but can’t find the edge to make the overtake.
3/63 – Leclerc pulls alongside Gasly exiting Tosa and brakes inside at Piratella. The Monegasque driver moves up to ninth position, while the French Alpine driver runs wide into the gravel and drops to fourteenth. Meanwhile, Verstappen extends his lead to 1.6 seconds over Piastri.
2/63 – Pit stop for Esteban Ocon—we don’t know yet if it’s for strategy or due to a rear-end incident.
1/63 – Oscar Piastri gets a good start, but Max Verstappen makes an incredible outside pass at Tamburello and immediately takes the lead. Behind, Leclerc gains a position on Hadjar, while Hamilton drops to thirteenth behind Kimi Antonelli. An amazing move by Max Verstappen!
15:00 –The formation lap is underway! Everyone will start on Medium tires, except for Hamilton, Antonelli, Hulkenberg, Bearman, and Tsunoda, who have chosen the harder compounds.
14:55 – Regarding strategies, the fastest still appears to be the one-stop approach, using a Medium-Hard sequence, due to the long pit lane. However, an aggressive two-stop strategy can’t be ruled out, especially if a Safety Car comes out, while using Soft tires is almost certainly off the table after yesterday’s issues.
14:45 -Fifteen minutes remain until the start of the formation lap for the Made in Italy and Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Yuki Tsunoda’s Red Bull will officially start from the pit lane following yesterday’s frightening crash, while there’s also an issue with Alexander Albon’s Williams, though the Thai driver should still be able to start normally.
PHOTO: McLaren F1 Team, F1, MoneyGram Haas F1 Team, Mercedes AMG Petronas, Oracle Red Bull Racing.